Preview: Arsenal Women v Chelsea Women

We're aiming to join Chelsea at the top of the Barclays Women's Super League table in Sunday's huge London derby at Emirates Stadium.

More than 57,000 tickets have been sold for the weekend's game against last season's champions.

We'll be looking to continue our fantastic run having beaten West Ham United 3-0 at Meadow Park at the end of November.

Last time around

We drew 1-1 with Chelsea on their previous visit to Emirates Stadium, Kim Little giving us the lead from the penalty spot before Sam Kerr equalised late on.

The result saw us go third in the league, three points behind Chelsea and level on points with Manchester United.

Unbeaten Blues

It's been another strong showing from Emma Hayes' side so far this season, who are unbeaten in the WSL having won seven and drawn one (1-1 against Manchester City) of their eight league games so far.

Prior to the international break, Chelsea secured a 5-2 win at home to Leicester City at Kingsmeadow.

They've also been competing in the UEFA Women's Champions League this season, drawing 2-2 at Real Madrid and winning 4-1 at home to Paris FC so far in the group stages.

It was announced earlier this term that the 2023/24 campaign will be Hayes' final season as Chelsea boss.

Team news

In his pre-match press conference, Jonas Eidevall reported that Lina Hurtig had to come back earlier than originally intended from Sweden's international camp after picking up an injury against Switzerland.

Apart from that, there were no fresh concerns.

What the managers say

Eidevall on Chelsea: "Always what you need to focus on in a football match is the performance. The performance will sort of equal into the result, but our full focus needs to be on the performance. It can never be on what it would mean to win or what it would not mean to win.

"Focus on playing good football, focus on playing well as a team, especially coming back from an international break with players being away, now we need to connect with each other to find our principles as well, so our focus needs to be on playing well and if we play well then we have a good chance of winning." Read every word of Jonas' press conference.

Hayes on us: “There are things you have to factor in when you’re away from home but we approach these games as we always do. We’re grateful that it’s going to be packed because it’s always much more enjoyable when it is.

“Jonas and I both like the tactical side of it because that’s what coaches enjoy the most. Arsenal have the most counter-attacking shots in the league and they’re an unbelievable counter-attacking team. They can cut you open in two or three passes and have such a threat on the last line. They’ve got more depth than ever, have a lot of experience and a lot of new players adding quality to a top team.”

Facts and stats

Having been winless in four WSL games between May and October (D1 L3), we have now won their last six by an aggregate score of 18-5.
Jonas Eidevall is unbeaten in both of his two home WSL meetings with Chelsea’s Emma Hayes (W1 D1).
Beth Mead has 11 goal involvements (8 goals, 3 assists) against Chelsea in the WSL, with only Toni Duggan (13) managing more against the Blues. With her brace against West Ham last time out, Mead also became the second ever player to reach 100 goal involvements in the WSL, along with Vivianne Miedema.